Joshua White > Joshua's Quotes

“But it is worth noting that to be good at something is not quite the same as loving it.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“Helen sighed. “What a daft little bitch.” “I want to be just like you when I grow up,” Talia breathed in awe. Phee stood next to her, nodding in agreement.”
― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea

“Real change lies within all of us. It is in the choices we make every day. It’s in how we talk, who we hire, and what we permit others to say in our presence. It’s in reading more, thinking more, considering a different perspective. At it’s simplest, it’s in whether we’re willing to spend even five minutes a day thinking about how we can make the world better.”
― Megan Rapinoe, One Life

“The tycoons of social media have to stop pretending that they’re friendly nerd gods building a better world and admit they’re just tobacco farmers in T-shirts selling an addictive product to children. Because, let’s face it, checking your “likes” is the new smoking.”
― Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World

“But sometimes a hypocrite is nothing more than a person who is in the process of changing.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer

“Sadly, News Feed optimizes for engagement. As we’ve learned in this election, bullshit is highly engaging.”
― Max Fisher, The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World

“The church she went to was one of those supposedly liberal ones that pretends to be accepting but actually preaches “Hate the sin, love the sinner.” Which is, of course, motherfucking-ass homophobic. It’s so much worse than regular homophobia, because these people don’t think they’re homophobic. You’re homophobic! And you’re hiding behind Christianity!”
― Megan Rapinoe, One Life

“Failure is the mark of a life well lived. In turn, the only way to live without failure is to be of no use to anyone. Trust me, I’ve practiced.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer

“The question,’ she replied, ‘is not whether you will love, hurt, dream, and die. It is what you will love, why you will hurt, when you will dream, and how you will die. This is your choice. You cannot pick the destination, only the path.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer

“People today … it seems they are good, or sometimes evil, mostly by inertia, not by choice. They act as their surroundings prepare them to act.”
― Brandon Sanderson, The Alloy of Law

“The enforced ennui and alienation of Gen X had one social upside: Self-righteous outrage was not considered cool, in an era when coolness counted for almost everything. Solipsism was preferable to narcissism. The idea of policing morality or blaming strangers for the condition of one’s own existence was perceived as overbearing and uncouth. If you weren’t happy, the preferred stance was to simply shrug and accept that you were unhappy. Ambiguous disappointment wasn’t that bad.”
― Chuck Klosterman, The Nineties: A Book

“Anyone can love a thing because. That’s as easy as putting a penny in your pocket. But to love something despite. To know the flaws and love them too. That is rare and pure and perfect.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear

“If you want to know the truth of who you are, walk until not a person knows your name. Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass. A long stretch of road will teach you more about yourself than a hundred years of quiet introspection.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear

“The past happened because a hundred little random things had to fall exactly into place in exactly the right way, in exactly the proper sequence, and while it was easy to accept the good results, one could only rage at the bad ones.”
― Tom Clancy, Without Remorse

“Abuse was the weapon of the coward, after all, and those who applied it knew the fact as well as those who had to accept it.”
― Tom Clancy, Without Remorse

“To allow yourself to play with another person is no small risk. It means allowing yourself to be open, to be exposed, to be hurt. It is the human equivalent of the dog rolling on its back—I know you won’t hurt me, even though you can. It is the dog putting its mouth around your hand and never biting down. To play requires trust and love.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“This life is filled with inescapable moral compromises. We should do what we can to avoid the easy ones.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“And what is love, in the end?” Alabaster said. “Except the irrational desire to put evolutionary competitiveness aside in order to ease someone else’s journey through life?”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“The sense of urgency just wasn’t there. Also, you may have noticed, I don’t care.”
― Martha Wells, All Systems Red

“but you may have noticed that when I do manage to care, I’m a pessimist.”
― Martha Wells, All Systems Red

“This is why I didn’t want to come. I’ve got four perfectly good humans here and I didn’t want them to get killed by whatever took out DeltFall. It’s not like I cared about them personally, but it would look bad on my record, and my record was already pretty terrible.”
― Martha Wells, All Systems Red

“Granted, I liked the imaginary people on the entertainment feed way more than I liked real ones, but you can’t have one without the other.”
― Martha Wells, All Systems Red

“He couldn't believe it was only Wednesday. And it was made worse when he realized it was actually Tuesday.”
― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea

“The things we fear the most are often the things we should fear the least. It’s irrational, but it’s what makes us human. And if we’re able to conquer those fears, then there is nothing we’re not capable of.”
― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea

“Just because you don’t experience prejudice in your everyday doesn’t stop it from existing for the rest of us.”
― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea

“Humanity is so weird. If we’re not laughing, we’re crying or running for our lives because monsters are trying to eat us. And they don’t even have to be real monsters. They could be the ones we make up in our heads. Don’t you think that’s weird?” “I suppose. But I’d rather be that way than the alternative.” “Which is?” “Not feeling anything at all.” Linus looked away.”
― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea

“Hate is loud, but I think you’ll learn it’s because it’s only a few people shouting, desperate to be heard. You might not ever be able to change their minds, but so long as you remember you’re not alone, you will overcome.”
― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea

“We get trapped in our own little bubbles, and even though the world is a wide and mysterious place, our bubbles keep us safe from that. To our detriment.”
― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea

“A home isn’t always the house we live in. It’s also the people we choose to surround ourselves with. You may not live on the island, but you can’t tell me it’s not your home. Your bubble, Mr. Baker. It’s been popped. Why would you allow it to grow around you again?”
― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea

“We are who we are not because of our birthright, but because of what we choose to do in this life. It cannot be boiled down to black and white. Not when there is so much in between.”
― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea